


Black Dog

by Korijem17



Category: Original Work
Genre: Animal Death, Everyone Needs A Hug, Loss of Parent(s), Russia, Winter, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22244917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korijem17/pseuds/Korijem17
Summary: This is a story I wrote for my Creative writing class and it is based on the song "Black Dog (You are My Sunshine)" By AJJ.go check out the song it is awesome.





	Black Dog

January 5th, 1986, Volya Kozlov was born in Russia. When he was born, his parents were confused as to why he looked so different from either of them. Rosa, his mother was Russian and had surprisingly tan skin and light brown hair, while his father, Elias had lighter skin and dark brown hair. Volya’s hair was black. His eyes were different too. Unlike his mother’s blue eyes or his father’s green ones, he had yellow eyes. His parents thought it was strange but didn’t question it much, considering Rosa hadn’t known her mother, while Elias hadn’t known either of his parents, so it was possible Volya got his looks from his grandparents. As he grew up, he had proven to be a very bright kid, despite everyone thinking otherwise. Volya refused to speak until he was nearly 6 years old and hadn’t walked until he was 3. When he did accomplish those milestones, he could do them almost flawlessly. Rosa and Elias sent him to school but he never did the work, saying that it was “too easy, and quite boring” so they had him tested and pulled him out of school, opting to let him learn on his own by buying him books and puzzles to study. 

When Volya was 15, he decided to go for a walk in the forest behind his home. There, he met a beautiful grey wolf whose fur was speckled with black. He wasn’t surprised to find one out here, after all, they were in an urban part of Russia. 

Volya froze quickly upon spotting the animal, tilting his head and he wondered what it was doing just laying there. He took a few tentative steps forward. SNAP. A branch broke beneath his boot and the wolf looked up and growled at him, but still laying on the ground. He slowly settled on the ground, knowing better than to get much closer. Minutes passed and they gazed at each other in silent wondering. The wolf seemingly came to a decision and stopped growling. It lowered its head and suddenly jerked its back leg and let out a loud yelp. Volya then saw it. Its leg was stuck in a deer trap. He stood up, carefully but quickly made his way to the pained creature and kneeled next to it. Looking quickly he noticed that it was a girl, as she looked quite pregnant. He took his hand and gently put it on her head. She didn’t react negatively so he slowly pets her, trying to reassure her further that he meant no harm. 

Volya leaned down and whispered; “все хорошо * . I am going to help you, but you cannot attack me.” 

The wolf laid her head on his leg and closed her eyes, in understanding. Volya removed his hand from the fur on the nape of her neck and settled further next to her leg. He grasped the edges of the trap and pushed the sides apart with all his might. It was one of the older traps and looked broken, so it didn’t have the safety releases that the newer traps have as a safety requirement. He heard a pop and crack as the springs broke and moved apart. The trap finally opened and The wolf scrambled up but fell only a few inches away. Volya quickly took the almost forgotten bag off his back and pulled out a bottle of vodka and a roll of bandages. For once he was grateful his parents insisted he takes a bottle with him everywhere he goes. For a Russian, he wasn’t a heavy drinker.

As before, he took the same tactic and approached quickly but carefully. He grabbed her leg gently and opened the bottle. 

“Мне жаль, * ” he spoke. “It will hurt, but it’s for the best that I do it. please keep calm.” 

He swiftly poured about a third of the bottle onto the wound on her leg, mumbling sorry the whole time as she quietly whimpered. With the bottle set aside, he wrapped the bandages on the leg and tore the edge with his teeth, as he didn’t have scissors. “Thank god my dad was an army doctor.” He thought with a sigh. Volya put everything back in his back and threw it onto his back. He stood up, keeping a hand on her back. Seconds passed and she stood slowly, aided by a gentle hand on her side. Now that she was standing he could see that she reached up to about his hip. She looked up at him with her piercing gold eyes and butted his stomach with her head. He accepted it as a silent thank you. She padded away with a limp as he stood still. She turned to him once more and bowed one final time, and walked deeper into the woods.

Over the next 6 months, Volya made regular trips into the forest. Each time wondering if he would ever see her again. In his mind, he named her Siku as he refused to continue referring to her as ‘The Wolf’ or just ‘Her’. Sometime during May, he once again had traveled into the forest for his almost daily walk. He had just settled down against a tree and had already brought out his notebook when he heard the crunching of leaves come in his direction. They got closer and closer, then stopped. Volya turned to his left and let out a quick gasp. Standing four feet from him was Siku. he hadn’t confirmed this until he saw the, now dirty, bandages on her back leg. As he looked at her, he noticed that she was noticeably skinner then last time, but thought nothing of it. Her eyes were soft towards him as she recognized the human that healed her. She turned and walked a few feet then looked at him once more. Volya put his book away and stood quickly as he understood that she wanted him to follow her. Ten minutes passed as they made their way deeper into the forest, with Siku occasionally looking back to make sure he was still there.

“Where is she taking me?” He wondered. Volya looked around and saw that up ahead were a bunch of rocks and hills. This indicated that they were nearing some of the mountains. As they rounded a decent sized boulder, He began to hear a faint barking/whimpering sound. When the pair fully rounder the boulder, In front of them, it was a small cave, just big enough to fit both of them. Turns out the noise was coming from a tiny wolf pup. Siku went over to the pup and laid down next to it and the pup inturns curled around its mother. 

“that's what you wanted to show me, да?” Volya sat crouched next to them not daring to move as he took in the sight before him. 

They sat like that for hours, content in each other’s company. Volya eventually got to hold the young pup and named her Tala. It was funny. He and the pup were similar in a few ways, but the major one was that neither one of them looked like their parents. Siku had mostly grey fur and her daughter was completely black. He placed the, now tired, pup back with her mother and sat up slowly. 

“а сейчас до свидания *  I will come back tomorrow Siku. I will bring something for you and Tala.” Volya briefly ran his finger through Siku fur the exited the cave, remember to grab his bag, and headed home.

**Black dog I see; daily, nightly**

**Monthly, yearly, sweetly, dearly**

Over the next four years, Volya kept his promise and visited almost every day give or take a few times where he was busy or sick. Often times he would bring small treats for the wolves and sometimes toys. The day after he met Tala he brought a blanket so that they could keep warm on especially cold nights. He would always play with Tala while Siku watched along the sidelines to make sure neither got hurt.

If Volya was still with them when the sun started setting, they would often relax and let him groom their thick coats with his hands or occasionally a brush or comb.

**She says, "When you pet me, I feel neatly**

**Rub my paws please, and scratch my belly"**

It was the middle of October when things started going wrong. Volya’s father died of a heart attack and his mother lost her job, so they had no source of income at the moment. In turn, he was forced to find a job so he visited the wolves less but still made sure to do his best when he could. The job he got wasn’t really a ‘job’ it was more like begging for money as he played guitar at the side of the road in the nearby city hoping people would give just a bit of money. He did enjoy it though cause he loved to write and sing. He would often write how he felt in his notebook and then later turn it into a song or two.

**In the evening, I try songwriting**

**I'm self-loathing, but I love singing**

Soo after Siku got sick. He only found out because Tala came to his house and begged him to follow. He stayed with them well into the cold of the night making sure to be there for when her time ran out. It was three in the morning when she succumbed to her illness. Both Volya and Tala cried for their mother and friend. Volya returned home and brought Tala with him as he didn’t think it would be right to leave her crying next to her dead mother’s body. The house was empty and dark as expected, as Volya’s mother went missing months ago. It was lonely. But at least they had each other. The next morning they went out and buried Siku next to the garden in his backyard hoping that she would still be close to them even after the end.

**I try escaping these evil feelings**

**But they keep coming, they keep coming**

Years went by, Tala was quite old at 8 years, and Volya was 23. He made a good living in a cafe in the nearby town and wrote music on the side. Often performing at kids’ birthday parties and the occasional wedding. 

It was in the middle of January when it happened. Volya and Tala went out for some more firewood when they got lost. Normally Tala would have stayed home since she was quite old but she decided to go with him this once. The blizzard had hit unexpectedly and rapidly. There was no way they were getting home now. The pair sat down underneath some overgrown branches hoping to shield themselves from the cold. It did nothing to do so. They both knew this was the end. It didn’t take long for frostbite to take hold and Volya hugged Tala close to him. Providing as much comfort as he could. With a shaking and raspy voice, he sang:

**“ты мое солнышко, мое единственное солнышко”**

**(“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,”)**

The shivering stopped. 

Tala’s breathing slowed.

**“Ты делаешь меня счастливым, когда небо серое,”**

**(“You make me happy when skies are grey,”)**

He felt oddly warm, despite the snow covering them from head to toe. 

Tala grew still. 

He knows she’s gone.

**“Ты никогда не узнаешь, дорогой, как сильно я тебя люблю,”**

**(“You'll never know dear, how much I love you,”)**

He gasped lightly as dark clouded his vision. 

His eyes closed and he smiled. 

With his final breath he sang the last notes:

**“Пожалуйста, не убирай мое солнце”**

**(“Please don't take my sunshine away”)**

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you like this story, it is one of the longer ones I've written in a while and quite sad.  
> please note that I do not speak Russian, but I am trying to learn.  
> Translations:  
> все хорошо - all is well  
> Мне жаль - I'm sorry  
> да - Yes  
> а сейчас до свидания - bye for now


End file.
